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Surprising? Yes! Well deserved? Absolutely. In thinking about this this morning when the news broke that President Obama had received the Nobel Peace Prize, two things came immediately to mind: one, that conservatives are going to go nuts on him and two, that President Bush’s foreign policy and the way it damaged not just our country but the global community’s abilities to find common solutions, was just THAT bad.

In many ways, the citizens of other countries have always understood just how interconnected we all are from a global standpoint, in a way that I think Americans have been slow to understand. We have always heard about the “ugly American” syndrome when we go visit other countries. Well, President Bush took that syndrome to the Nth degree in applying it to every facet of our foreign policy and international strategic approaches, demonstrating a deep disrespect and disregard for the role of true ally and partner with many of our long-time friends around the world.

President Obama, by contrast, has articulated a very simple but important new vision of hope, cooperation, and leading by extending a hand. There is no doubt President Obama will be forceful and would use force when warranted, but his speeches to very specific audiences around the world who have been alienated by our past leaders, have shown a deep and pragmatic understanding of how real and effective global leadership works in today’s shrinking global community. In addition, he no doubt feels incredible pressure to demonstrate that he can live up to what this prize means. And that can only be a good thing as he carries the immense burden of confronting all our challenges and problems around the globe.

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